Trenton cruises past Steinert in opener
TRENTON » It was a scene right out of the glory days at Tornado Alley when the powerhouse Trenton High basketball teams routinely dismantled the opposition with relentless defensive pressure and a non-stop running game.
Opening a delayed and what will be an abbreviated season this year in convincing style, Trenton destroyed outmanned Steinert, 77-35, Tuesday night.
Steinert actually led for most of the first quarter, but it was only a matter of time before it wilted against a Trenton squad that got contributions from nearly the entire team and had five players score in double figures.
“We still need a lot of work, but it was a good start,” said Trenton coach Darryl Young. “It’s been tough (with the late start), but we worked as much as we could on our conditioning. We showed we were the better conditioned team tonight.”
After taking control of the game in the second quarter, Trenton poured it on by outscoring Steinert by a whopping 42-12 margin in the second half.
Filling it up from outside with four three-pointers, sophomore Antwan Bridgett led all scorers with 16 points. Two of those came in the third quarter when Trenton went on a 15-0 run to up its lead to 52-25.
He had plenty of help as Vincent Bridgett and Davontay Hutson both contributed 12 and sophomore forward Chris Wilson got in on the fun with 13 points, including eight in the second quarter.
“Chris actually should have started last year, but he was a little lazy with his conditioning,” said Young. “This year he came to work. He has a knack for the ball and he’s real smart.”
If Wilson has his way, this was just the start.
“I can pretty much do anything,” replied Wilson when asked what he considers to be his strengths. “I didn’t show everything tonight. There’s more coming.”
Trenton struggled last year with just seven wins, but it obviously has a talented sophomore class and starts just two seniors. It doesn’t have a true “big” man, but it has enough size to more than hold its own in the rebounding department.
What’s more, it also has depth and plenty of quickness.
“We want to force the action and play the game at our pace,” said Young. “We want to pass the ball up court right away off our turnovers and rebounds.”
Steinert got 13 points from guard Jaden Oldjohn, but that was about it for a team that had way too many turnovers and was consistently beaten up court.
Wells 6-0-12; Evans 4-2-11; A. Bridgett 6-0-16; Hutson 5-0-12; Pratt 2-0-5; V. Bridgett 1-0-2; Oliver 1-0-2; Wilson 6-1-13; Williams 2-0-4; Bailey 0-0-0; Totals: 33-3-77.
Steinert (0-1) 12 11 5 7 — 35
Trenton (1-0) 13 22 22 20 — 77
3pt goals: Three pointers: Thompson 1, Oldjohn 2 , Finnegan 1 (S). Evans 1, A. Bridget 4, Hutson 2; Pratt 1 (T)
MOORESTOWN 57,
NO. BURLINGTON 50 COLUMBUS » Logan Jagodizinski scored 23 points and the Quakers (1-0) held off the Greyhounds (0-1) in the season opener for both teams. Marcus Gaffney had 12 points and Marco Mannino added 11 to pace NBC. DOANE ACADEMY 65,
NEW EGYPT 63
NEW EGYPT » Sean Hargrove and Mike Evans netted 16 points each to lead five players in double figures as Doane (1-0) edged the Warriors (0-1) in overtime. Devin Kimmick poured in 30 points for New Egypt and Adam Harris added 21.